


Coffee

by artemisscribe



Category: Thunderbirds
Genre: Blink And You Miss It Slash, F/M, also works as platonic, but i think they're super cute together, low key relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-04
Updated: 2017-01-04
Packaged: 2018-09-14 15:38:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,137
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9189980
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/artemisscribe/pseuds/artemisscribe
Summary: On earth for an academic conference John meets up with his favourite neighbour, Captain O'Bannon.





	

“This is so weird” Ridley says, taking a sip of her latte,  
“What, me or the coffee?” John asks, emptying the sixth of his eight sachets of sugar into his black coffee,  
“No,” Ridley laughs, “I mean the gravity, being on earth with you instead of in zero-G.” She watches him pour the last of his sugar into his cup and stir it, “Although yes, your coffee habits are pretty strange. You know it would be sweeter if you put milk in there too, you’d need less sugar then.”  
John pulls a face at her suggestion,  
“The sugar is there to be sugar, not to make it sweet,” he assures her, “And yeah, now you mention it, the gravity is weird. So is being able to see your hair actually.”

She self-consciously tucks a lock of her hair behind her ear, very aware of his gaze,  
“I still can’t believe you’re ginger” John says, in a tone of slight awe, “I mean your eyebrows are really dark, and then suddenly, _boom!_ Ginger!”  
“I’m _not_ ginger!” Ridley insists for what feels like the thousandth time since he met her in the conference centre lobby, “It’s Titian.”  
“Call it what you like, it’s still ginger” John shrugs, “It does explain why you keep it covered all the time though. The shame of the Red Peril.”

Ridley rolls her eyes as John laughs at his own joke,  
“You’re not funny” she insists,  
“Yes I am! Loads of people laugh at my jokes!”  
“And how many of those people are you paying to find you funny?” she teases.  
“Just the one” he says with a fake pout, joining in the joke. As she shakes her head he rolls his eyes,  
“Aw come on!” he says, “At least _pretend_ to find me funny! The guy I pay to laugh at my jokes is on vacation!”

That does make her laugh,  
“You’re ridiculous” she says  
“You’re only just figuring that out now?” he asks  
“Yeah,” she nods, “the unnecessarily tight spacesuit should have clued me in a lot earlier.”  
“There is nothing wrong with my spacesuit” he says,  
“You're right,” she agrees, smirking a little as she adds “If you’re making a pin-up calendar.”  
John snort with derision,  
“Oh yeah, _very_ original, _never_ heard that one before.”

Over John’s shoulder movement catches her eye and she realises that two young girls are watching them and whispering excitedly to each other behind their hands. It’s quite funny to watch them geeking out though she realises that she’s been too obvious in her shifted attention when John clears his throat,  
“What, did someone smarter and better looking walk in?” he asks with a smirk as she shakes her attention back to him,  
“No, your brother isn’t here” Ridley teases, smirking right back at him as he gasps in mock horror, clutching his heart  
“ _Ouch!_ ” he says, “What did I do to deserve that?”

Ridley laughs, shaking her head as John grins at her,  
“Seriously though, what’s behind me?” he asks, “Aliens? The cops? Carl Sagan’s reanimated head in a jar on wheels?”  
“Nothing as cool as that” Ridley laughs, “Some kids are staring at us, well, staring at _you_ , I think.”  
John nods sagely before leaning in and dropping his voice to a stage whisper,  
“Well I don’t know if you’ve heard” he says, looking around conspiratorially, “but I’m kind of a big deal.”  
“Oh yes I know,” Ridley nods “I was quite star-struck when we met.”  
“Ha! Star-struck!” John says sarcastically, gesturing between them, “It’s funny because we’re astronauts.”  
“Your intellect really is dazzling” she teases, taking a sip of her coffee before she has a sudden thought, “Oh! What time is it?” she asks suddenly,  
“Bored of me already Captain O’Bannon?” John says with a pout.  
“Of You? Never.” She says, giving him a wink, “My lecture starts at 4.”

John glances at his watch,  
“You’ve got twenty minutes” he says  
“Damn, right.” Ridley hurriedly downs the rest of her coffee, “Better go and grab my notes. Are you coming?”  
“To hear you talk for 3 hours about solar flares?” John says, slightly offended she’s even asking the question, “Hell yeah I’m coming!”  
She grins at him and grabs her bag, and then she’s on her feet and dashing out of the cafe, giving his shoulder a brief squeeze on her way past him,  
“See you later,” she calls as he waves her off and settles back in his chair to finish his drink in peace. Or so he thinks.

It’s not five minutes later when two slightly timid teenage girls approach the table, and he realises these must be the kids that Ridley spotted watching them. He mentally braces himself for a bombardment of questions about the Thunderbirds that he won’t be able to answer for security reasons. And then something far more interesting happens. One girl looks at the other, giving her a nod of encouragement, clearly this one has been nominated as the spokesperson for the pair, and shuffling awkwardly, she gathers the courage to speak,  
“We’re really sorry to bother you,” she explains, “But we were wondering, do you know Ridley O’Bannon?”  
“Yes, I do” John says, utterly delighted at the unexpected turn in the conversation, “You fans?”  
The girls both nod enthusiastically,  
“Oh yeah!” the talker says, “We want to be astronauts when we grow up.”  
“You should” John says, “Astronauts are really cool.”  
“Are you an astronaut?” the quiet one asks,  
“Me? No.” John lies, enjoying the novelty of not being recognised, especially in an academic setting.  
“So what’s she like?” the talkative girl asks, “Captain O’Bannon?”  
John considers the question for a moment. What’s Ridley like? Smart, driven, stubborn, opinionated, hilarious, compassionate, none of it really does her justice.  
“Well she’s really good at handball” he says  
“Really?” the girl asks, clearly not expecting that answer.  
“Yep," John confirms, "She kicks my ass every week.”

It seems to be a satisfactory answer for the pair of them and John gets the sense they’re about to leave him alone when he gets the impulsive urge to make their day, or possibly their whole year, considering how interested in Ridley they seem to be.  
“Are you going to her talk?” he asks and the girls nod again,  
“Oh yeah, we wouldn’t miss it!” the talkative one says sounding as if they’re about to go to a concert or a movie rather than an academic lecture,  
“Well you guys stick with me,” he says, standing up, “And afterwards I’ll introduce you.”  
“Really?” the girl gasps, her friend clutching at her arm in excitement,  
“Yeah, sure” John grins, knowing how much of a kick Ridley’s going to get out of having fans, _and_ out of him not being recognised by such obvious space geeks, “It’s the least I can do.”


End file.
